Amahl Farouk
Amahl Farouk is a centuries-old mutant whose mind formally resided in the Astral Plane and tormented David Haller throughout his life. His body was left mummified and hidden away until he would eventually find his body again. To most other mutants, he is known as the Shadow King. Biography ''Legion prologue'' Before David Haller was adopted, his biological father fought the Shadow King in a telepathic duel, which resulted in the body of the Shadow King being destroyed. However, his consciousness survived and was able to find David in his adopted home when he was an infant. Farouk nested himself in David's mind and fed off of him in order to regain his strength. In David's childhood years, Farouk would alter several memories of David's in order to create images for himself, including a puppy named "King", and later as "The World's Angriest Boy in the World" from a sadistic children's book that Farouk concocted himself. Farouk tormented David throughout his life, including rewriting his memories, and feeding off of David's abilities to increase his own. At times David would catch a glimpse of Farouk's true appearance, which he referred to as "The Devil with the Yellow Eyes", but would be made to instantly forget. In David's early twenties, it is suggested that Farouk concocted the personna of Lenny Busker, which to the rest of the world looked like a man named Benny. To do this, Farouk influenced the minds of not only David, but also everyone involved with his personal life. He used the "Lenny" personna to drive David into a drug addiction, in hopes of unlocking his mutant abilities. But it only made things worse for Farouk's unlucky host. Driven to near insanity by Farouk's constant torment and the weight of his growing powers, David attempted suicide, and was later committed to Clockworks Psychiatric Hospital. However in reality Lenny was indeed a real person and Farouk having observed his close relationship with Lenny planned to use her as an avatar to manipulate David for his plans. ''Legion At The Clockworks Psychiatric Hospital, Farouk continued using the Lenny/Benny personna with David; he later met a haphephobic girl named Syd Barrett. Syd became David's girlfriend, although she never allowed him to touch due to her own mutant abilities. Farouk noticed this bond, and found David was becoming more stable because of it, and looked to stop her, Farouk revealed herself to Syd as Lenny in hopes to distract David, much to no avail. On the day of Syd's check-out, David kissed her, causing them to temporarily switch places. Syd's mind was unable to contain Farouk, allowing him to take control of David's body and therefore his powers. Farouk dragged Clockworks' patients through the walls to trap them in their rooms. He made it look like "Lenny" was killed when she wasn't pulled all the way through the wall. After that, Farouk more frequently began to appear to David as Lenny; aiming to be more direct influence to his actions, Farouk made Lenny more seductive and cynical and playing it off as a symptom of David's schizophrenia. David, now out of Clockworks, was eventually found by Dr. Melanie Bird, who led a team of mutants at Summerland. Farouk felt threatened by Summerland and David's relationship with Syd, so he began to appear to David in Lenny's form and cause him to lose control of his powers. Farouk also tried to block their attempts at recovering his true memories, which they originally assumed was caused by David's mental defenses. During one therapy session, David ended up trapped in the Astral Plane. Seeing a chance to increase his hold on David, Farouk showed his friends being captured by Division 3, and convinced him to combine their powers to escape and go after Division 3. When David went to confront Division 3 to rescue his sister, he ceded control of his mind to Farouk, who effortlessly slaughtered Division 3's operatives. Farouk brought David and his sister Amy back to their childhood home and forced her to reveal to David that he was adopted. Melanie and the mutants at Summerland tracked David to his home, followed by Division 3 mutant, Walter. Walter, disguised as Rudy, fired a machine gun at David. Before the bullets hit David, which Syd tried to shield him from, he brought Syd into the supposedly safe area of his mind, but Farouk got through and approached Syd, while David watched helplessly. Farouk brought all the minds of everyone present in the real world to a projection of Clockworks in the Astral Plane. Farouk, in the form of Lenny, posed as Clockworks' lead psychiatrist, trapping the other Summerland mutants as patients in the hospital. Farouk tried to give David a happier life in the hospital, changing his diagnosis to ease him. However, Oliver Bird slowly began to free them from Farouk's control, and the Shadow King began taking a less light approach. In a counseling session with David, "Lenny" took the opportunity to seal his mind away. Farouk looked through David's mind for something specific in regards to David's father and interrogated Amy Haller about the night David's father gave David to his adoptive family. While Oliver, Melanie and Cary Loudermilk prepared for them to return to the physical world, Farouk battled Syd Barrett and Kerry Loudermilk in his projection of Clockworks and killed Walter. Farouk stopped Oliver from creating a shield to protect David and Syd from the oncoming bullets in the real world. Before Farouk could finish off Syd and Kerry, Rudy awoke from his comatose state and restrained the parasite as Cary Loudermilk placed a device around David's head that isolated him deep in his mind, and David shattered the reality Farouk had trapped them all in. However, Farouk continued fighting to resurface and by the time Division 3 arrived at Summerland to capture David, the barriers holding back the Shadow King began to collapse. Having trouble regaining control of David, Farouk was able to make contact with Syd, to whom he established a connection with when the lovers first switched bodies. He threatened to kill David in any attempt to expel him, unless Syd was able to find a way for him to escape. As the team began extracting Farouk from David, he kept his promise of attempting to kill David, until Syd kissed David, forcing Farouk into her. He then used her ability to hijack Kerry's body, where he subdued Cary, Ptonomy, and Melanie. Before he could escape, David confronted him and the two collided, and David forced Farouk out of Kerry, who found his way into Oliver and had him drive out of Summerland. The Shadow King in Oliver's body had them travel south for some unknown goal. For a whole year Amahl Farouk has gone around the world infecting people with a mental virus of some sort that leaves people completely frozen but their teeth chattering relentlessly. Somehow during this David managed to track Oliver and Farouk down and they hand a dance battle of some sort but David could not remember this in full detail. Character traits Amahl Farouk is a being of complete and pure evil. Using his abilities to mentally torture and manipulate David since his childhood simply to get back at his father. The Shadow King relishes terrifying and even harming anyone he can simply because he has the power to do so. Powers and Abilities *'Mutant Physiology:' Amahl Farouk is a mutant with poweful telepathic and psychic abilities. **'Telepathy:' Farouk has vast telepathic powers, which grant him numerous different abilities. ***'Astral Manipulation:' Farouk used this power when he battled David Haller's father on the Astral Plane. He also used this ability to construct an elaborate illusion of the Clockworks Hospital, capable of trapping several people, including several powerful psychics such as David Haller and Walter. His power over the realm allowed him to telekinetically affect the environment, such as immobilizing Kerry and Sydney, as well as controlling Walter’s motor skills and forcing him to walk backward. Additionally, he was able to contort Walter’s body in Astral Plane, simultaneously killing him in the real world. When confronted by Oliver Bird’s attempts to assist the Summerland mutants attempts to contain him with a psychic dampening helmet for David, he demonstrated being able to forcibly send him back to the real world. Farouk was able to mentally incapacitate Melanie whilst possessing Kerry. ***'Astral Projection:' Farouk is able to travel to the Astral Plane and meet with David. ***'Mnemokinesis:' Farouk was able to alter David’s memories, causing him to forget his presence whenever David noticed. He also managed to implant fake and altered memories in David, in an effort to hide his presence. Farouk was also able to overwhelm the memory manipulation abilities of Ptonomy, being able to prevent him from viewing certain memories, as well as temporarily trapping him, Melanie, and Sydney in David's memories. ***'Possession:' Farouk can embed his consciousness within the minds of others, and can only be removed by his own volition, or by being removed through Sydney's mind-switching power. Hosts of the Shadow King sometimes manifest yellow eyes when possessed, though others (such as David and Oliver Bird) have normal eyes. While possessing David and Oliver, he was capable of influencing their perception of reality, memory, actions, and behavior without having to fully take control of them, as he did to David for years. When disembodied in the real world, he appeared as a black shadowy mass that was able to have some effect on his surrounding, colliding with Oliver and sending him flying across a room while possessing him and causing a gate behind him to shut. **'Reality Generation:' Farouk can generate, create and project various types of realities. **'Reality Manipulation:' When Farouk, in Oliver's body entered Division 3, he turned one agent into a pig and another into a fish. He was also able to make bullets unable to harm him, even when multiple gunman where firing at him at close range. ***'Energy Shield:' During his fight with David while controlling Kerry's body, Farouk was able to generate a red energy shield around himself. ***'Matter Manipulation:' When Amahl, in Oliver's body entered Division 3, he disintegrated several Division 3 agents with a mere thought. **'Telekinesis:' Whilst possessing Kerry, Farouk flung Clark aside after he attacked him. **'Consciousness Absorption:' After she was killed by Sydney Barrett inhabiting David's body, Lenny's consciousness was absorbed by Farouk and used as a "mask" to conceal his true identity. Even after taking possession of Oliver, Farouk was still able to control Lenny's consciousness and kept her imprisoned within the Astral Plane when he was not "using" her. Relationships * Amy Haller - Enemy. * Cary Loudermilk - Enemy. * David Haller - Former host and enemy. * David Haller's father - Enemy. * Kerry Loudermilk - Temporary host and enemy. * Melanie Bird - Former host and enemy. * Oliver Bird - Former host and enemy. * Ptonomy Wallace - Enemy. * Sydney Barrett - Temporary host and enemy. * Walter - Victim. Appearances/Actors *Legion (1 TV series) **Legion ''- Quentin Boisclair (season 1) and Navid Negahban (season 2) Behind the scenes * Saïd Taghmaoui was originally cast as The Shadow King for season 2, but left the show. Trivia To be added Gallery Legion ShadowKing.jpeg Category:Legion characters Category:Mutants Category:Villains